Kyle Walker’s fall is the symbol of Man City decline
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The days of ‘you’ll never beat Kyle Walker’ chants have passed and City’s long-serving right-back is now on the brink of leaving the club as a symbol of all that has gone wrong. A couple of years ago, Pep Guardiola took a phrase to a new dimension. Or a new era, given that it was a prediction for the 2050s. You’ll never beat Kyle Walker? "He will always have pace,” the Manchester City manager argued. “Kyle at 60 years old will be the fastest player in this room.”.
![[Pep Guardiola has revealed that Kyle Walker wants to leave this month]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/11/20/newFile-1.jpg)
Guardiola used to thank the full-back’s parents for his genes. Walker, it seemed, was a physiological freak. As others slowed down, as evidence sometimes emerged that his lifestyle was scarcely ideal, he was still the man for a race: with Vinicius Jr, or Kylian Mbappe, or the fastest forward anyone could find.
![[Walker has been a key cog in Man City’s defensive resilience of the past few years]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/12/12/395f18d20367ef72dd260f55334cdb17Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzM2NzY2NTA5-2.78360725.jpg)
Until, it transpired, the name of Walker’s podcast felt ever more inappropriate. It was not merely that roadrunners like Adama Traore and Timo Werner could suddenly beat Kyle Walker; it was the ease with which they sped past him, the distance they opened up in the blink of an eye, the way lesser athletes found themselves in the unusual position of going past him. Walker was stripped of his super power, like Samson shorn of his locks.
![[Walker has enjoyed a huge amount of success at the Etihad Stadium]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/12/29/16/SEI234478606.jpg)
Perhaps some of his confidence went with it. Certainly the imperfections in the rest of his game became more apparent. Walker had never needed to be positionally flawless; he was so quick he could cope. Until he couldn’t. He was beaten by Morgan Rogers for Aston Villa’s second goal in a 2-1 loss last month, at fault for both of Crystal Palace’s in a 2-2 draw, regularly susceptible, a shadow of the man whose swagger came from the knowledge he could outpace anyone at will. City’s recent mini-revival occurred without him: they have not won a game he has started since September.
